News in Brief

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]The number of psychiatric patients being treated at Jaffna Teaching hospital is said to have increased. Meanwhile, thieves are said to have stripped abandoned houses from Valikamam North and a woman has given birth on a bullock cart.

Psychiatric patients said struggling

The number of psychiatric patients getting treatment at the Jaffna Hospital are on the increase, said hospital sources there. Between 150 and 200 patients are being treated daily they added.

However, due to a lack of facilities at the hospital, the patients are facing considerable hardships they said. There are not enough beds and there is a long waiting time for the OPD patients which complicates their problems, the sources said.

Bouncing baby arrives

A mother gave birth to a baby while she was on her way to hospital on a bullock cart last Tuesday around 5 a.m. in Manthikai in the Jaffna peninsula.

The mother, Rajeswaray Chandrasegaram, 21 and her new born baby are doing fine said sources in Jaffna.

Thieves strip houses - literally

The Divisional Secretary of Valikamam North, Mrs. Pathiniyamma Thilakanayagam said that thieves have ransacked doors and windows from many abandoned houses in the area.

Valuable timber and other goods along with bricks and tiles have been removed from these houses and a large number of valuable trees have also been cut down, she added.